"The double-headed ua is variously described as a ceremonial staff occasionally employed as a fighting weapon, or as a long double-handled club normally carried as a badge of rank. Either interpretation is probably correct. A number of authentic pieces have been preserved and many more have been carved in post-missionary times primarily, however, from imported wood.

Whereas the slightly oval neck section of the staff is almost circular, its shorter diameter decreases and its longer increases towards the lower end, giving the staff a spatular shape. Sometimes, however, according to the suitability of the wood, the staff has a uniform cross section all the way down and the representation is bilaterally symmetrical. Eyes are inlaid as on the wooden images with bone rings enclosing obsidian disks. Strongly projecting pouches hang down below the eyes on each side of a long, straight and slim nose with naturalistic alae. The flat, elliptical mouth is carved with raised lips surrounding a horizontal groove. Teeth are not indicated. Long, narrow ears with earplugs are carved as bands along the edges. The forehead slants forward to project beyond the eyes. Eyebrows are lacking, but the wide and tall forehead is traversed horizontally by a dense series of grooves arching from one side to the other. There is no chin or beard, as the narrow lower face continues uninterruptedly into the staff. Specimens vary considerably in length, recent pieces sometimes approaching 6 ft. (nearly 2 m.), whereas ancient specimens are rarely more than some 40 ins. (ca. 1,20 m.) and sometimes slightly curved due to the imperfections of the toromiro available. Knots or other holes in the wood are often filled with perfectly fitted plugs. Ua were in some instances preserved in sheaths made from totora reed." (Heyerdahl 3)

Ûa

Rain; 1. ûa hakamito, persistent, but not strong, rain; 2. ûa kura, fine rain, drizzle; 3. ûa matavaravara, strong rain; 4. ûa parera, torrential rain; 5. ûa tai, rain followed by fair weather at sea. Ehu ûa, drizzle. Vanaga.

Ûaûa. Tendons, muscles. 1. Hau ûaûa kio'e, line made from rats' tendons. 2. Ûaûa toto, vein, artery. 3. Ûaûa piki, spasm. Vanaga.

1. Rain; hoa mai te ua, to rain; mou te ua, to cease raining. P Mgv., Mq., Ta.: ua, rain. 2. Vein, artery, tendon (huahua 1) (uha G); ua nene, pulse; ua nohototo, artery, ua gaei, pulse. Uaua, vein, tendon, line; kiko uaua, muscle T. Hakauaua, to mark with lines. P Pau.: tare-ua, tendon. Mgv., Mq., Ta.: uaua, vein, tendon. Churchill.

U'a

Of the tide, to reach its maximum; tai u'a, high tide. Vanaga.

Wave, surge; tai ua, high tide. Churchill.

Uá

Ata uá, morning twilight. Uáuá, to reside; resident; noho uáuá to settle somewhere; ina koe ekó noho uáuá, do not establish yourself there. Vanaga.

Strings can unite, for example the 2 hulls of a canoe. Rain has the same capacity, to join sky and earth.

Half a ua sign could indicate 'rain is leaving' (like when the strings uniting the hulls of a double-canoe are untied) and be a sign of the rainbow (which has only a single bow). From this we can then guess that 2 bows (as in a normal ua sign) could characterize the opposite of the rainbow - the time when rain is arriving.

At Hamal I wrote:

... The single sign (half ua) is located where we can identify it as the rainbow sign, when Sun is returning:


Ga2-25	Ga2-26	Gb3-30

Though in Gb3-30 (glyph number 91 from the beginning of side b and in the line without any henua signs) the front 'leg' is drawn down to prevent light from entering (negating the rainbow sign and changing the meaning to its opposite). A pau 'foot' sign signifies the end of the season of Sun ...

A rainbow also at the end of the path of Sun is not impossible, as we should remember from The Tail Feathers:

... The Katawihi distinguish two rainbows: Mawali in the west, and Tini in the east ... The Mura also believed that there were two rainbows, an 'upper' and a 'lower' ... Similarly, the Tucuna differentiated between the eastern and the western rainbows and believed them both to be subaquatic demons, the masters of fish and potter's clay respectively ...

When in early spring the time is ripe to let Sun begin his voyage up towards midsummer he must be released from contact with earth - no kaikai games can be allowed which could threaten his release, such is the Inuit rule (although they would say her release instead of his).

If ua indicates the season of high tide, when water flows up onto the beaches in waves (in patterns which possibly could be the origin of the design of the ua glyph type), then uaua should be the opposite time of change, when water draws back from the beaches letting sand peacefully settle down again (uaua).

The Hawaiian Moon calendar had in principle low tide at the end of the month (cfr at Fishing Up Land), and the important Sign is how sea returns the sand to the beaches (in the last 3 of the nights):

Ga2-26

ω Cancri (121.4)

26 Kane (Tane)

Kane is the twenty-seventh night of the Moon. It was a day of prayer and on the day following, that of Lono, the prayer was freed. That day and the day of Lono are good days for planting potatoes. It is a day of very low tide but joyous for men who fish with lines and for girls who dive for sea-urchins.

period 1
	*Ga2-27 (122)**	Ga2-28	Ga2-29 (60)
	Naos (122.3)	Heap of Fuel (123.1)	Tegmine (124.3)

*27 Lono (Rogo)*	Lono is the twenty-eight night of the Moon. It is a day for planting crops. The tide is low, the sea calm, the sand is gathered up and returned to its place; in these days the sea begins to wash back the sand that the rough sea has scooped up. This is one account of the night of Lono.
*28 Mauli (Mauri)*	Mauli is the last night that the Moon is visible and the name means 'the last breath'. It is a very good day for planting, a day of low tide. 'A sea that gathers up and returns the sand to its place' is the meaning of this single word. The Moon rises just a little before sunrise and it is the twenty-ninth night of the Moon.
*29 Muku (Mutu)*	Muku is the night on which the Moon does not rise. The name means 'finished' and it refers to the 'dying' of the Moon. It is a day for planting crops, a day of low tide, when the sea gathers up and returns the sand to its place, a day of diving for sea-urchins, small and large, for gathering sea-weed, for line-fishing by children, squid-catching, uluulu [uruuru] fishing, pulu [puru] fishing and so forth. Such is the activity of this day.

I suggest a parallel between the last 4 nights in the Hawaiian Moon calendar and the glyphs Ga2-26--29. The oddity of having to add 1 (Gb8-30) to the beginning of side a corresponds to the oddity of having to add 1 to the number of the nights, e.g. to name the 26th night as the 27th night of the Moon.

From this it becomes plausible that Moon rules from Gb8-30 up to and including Ga2-29, for 60 days. The measure for Moon seems to be a lunar double-month (59 days) plus 1 night added in order to keep pace with 2 * 30 = 60 days for Sun.